Abstract
This thesis will focus on Shen Cong- Wen’s some selected literary works during 1940s. The first chapter provides a short general introduction about Shen’s literature in 1940s and a review of the criticism about Shen’s writing. It is obvious that Shen’s personal life experience during this decade has considerable influence over his literary works. Finally, the arrangement of the following chapters is briefly introduced. Chapter Two includes a detailed analysis of “Qi Se Yan” (The Nightmare with Seven Color), in which the themes, the connections among the episodes, the author’s writing style and skills are studied. In Chapter Three, “Zhu Xu”(False Candle), “Sheng Ming”(Life), “Shui Yun”(Water Cloud), “Yun Nan Kan Yun”(Watching Cloud in Yun Nan ), “Ding-He Shi Ge Yin Yue Mi”(Ding-He is a Music Fan), and “Yi Ge Chuan Qi De Ben Shi”(A Legendary Story) are selected examples of Shen’s proses to present the author’s perspectives on life and his insights into art. Chapter four is concentrated on Shen’s six short stories in 1940s: “Kan Hong Zhai Xing Lu”(Gazing at Rainbow ), “Xue Qing”(After Snow), “Dong Jing”(Movement), “Wang Sao”(Amah Wang), “Xiang Cheng” (Rural Town), and “Hong Qiao”(Rainbow). The coherent literary themes, symbolic images, and the fusion of modern writing and realist skills are discovered and analyzed. “Chan Ghe”(Long River), in Chapter five, reveals the special writing technique on illustrating the setting and the “power of language,” in which the juxtapositional ideas of new(modern)/old (tradition), and rural (countryside)/city (modern world) are observed. Conclusively, Chapter 6 summarizes and integrates the previous four chapters, and affirms Shen’s artistic contribution in literature.